Fragile *Complete*

When Alex set out to find her long lost brother, she never guessed he'd be famous. But can she get him to remember her, that tiny blank in his childhood memory? Or will his life prove too much of a distraction?

11. Trip To the Hospital

Louis's POV

We decided to take Alex to the hospital. Liam was pacing the floor like a caged animal, and she hadn't woken up in two days. We were all worried.

I lifted her from the couch. Wow, she was excruciatingly light! If I had to guess, I'd say she was no more than 80 lbs. I carried her frail, fragile body to the van. An overwhelming feeling of love and protection washed over me and I held her closer. It wasn't the love I knew Liam felt for her, but the love I would've felt for a sister.

I climbed into the back of the van, tossing Liam the keys, which he then tossed to Harry. I sat on the far left side, holding Alex close as I sat her on my lap, her head resting on my shoulder. Liam sat next to us and stared at her with sad eyes. Niall climbed in next to him. I knew how close he was to her, even if she didn't return those feelings. Come to think of it, she was distant to everyone. Even me. I don't know why I felt so special, why she should be closer and more open with me than the boys, but I did.

We pulled into the hospital and all pulled out of the van, Alex still in my arms. I wouldn't let go of her unless it was absolutely necessary. We walked up to the front desk and Harry cleared his throat."Excuse me," he said. I could hear the strain in his voice, "our friend here needs help."

"Mhmm," the woman at the desk replied. She was clearly more interested in, I peeked at the article of the magazine she was reading.

"Well, I can see you're too busy reading about One Direction, so could you please direct us to someone who could be of more assistance?" That got her attention. She looked up, annoyed, realized who she was talking to, and almost screamed, before regaining her composure.

"Oh my gosh," she yelled, looking at Alex. "Right this way please." The woman rushed around the desk and down a hall. The boys and I followed. "Just set her on the bed and I'll call a nurse for you."

She closed the door as she exited the small hospital room. I walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge, still holding her, staring at her face. I heard the boys whispering amongst themselves, but they immediately stopped when I looked up at them.

"What?" This was frustrating. We always talked about stuff as a group. There were no secrets. But apparently there was one.

"Nothing," Zayn replied, looking at the ground.

Just then a nurse came in. "Hello boys, my name is Janice. What seems to be the problem today?" I just have her an incredulous look. Really? Did she not see the unconscious girl? Really?

Thankfully, Liam stepped in. "Our friend here was feeling ill," he gestured towards Alex. "She passed out a couple of days ago and hasn't woken up since, so we brought her in to see what was going on."

"I see. Well, what is her full name then? I'll need to look up her records." Shoot! None of us knew her last name! Now what?

"I'll come help you look," Liam stated, following the nurse out.

*****

The pair returned after about an hour. "We found her file," Liam announced triumphantly.

"I'm sorry boys, but we can do nothing with, Alex Avalon," se said, referring to her clipboard.

"What?" I could hear the disbelief in Niall's voice.

"Alex has no insurance, never had insurance actually, but she has been admitted to an American hospital on numerous occasions. There are still outstanding bills to be paid, and until they are, we can do nothing further. I'm sorry," she apologized.

"How much?" I pulled out my wallet.

She checked the forms again before replying, "2.8 million American dollars." I nearly dropped my wallet in astonishment. That much?! How many times had she been to a hospital? And how bad was she? I did the math. That was 1,708,000 pounds. Alright. I pulled out that exact amount (I kept a lot of cash with me sometimes) and handed it to a dumbfounded Zayn.

"Go take care of that, will you, Mate?" He nodded and walked out.

"Alright, you boys will need to leave while I do some tests." I reluctantly laid Alex down and followed the boys to the nearby waiting room.

*****

The nurse returned after what felt like a lifetime."You can go in and see her now."

The boys and I raced down to her room and quietly opened the door. She was still unconscious on the bed. I walked over and sat down by her. She was so... weak. And pale. And small. I just wanted to cry; to hold her in my arms and never let go; to protect her from everything. Why was I feeling like this? She was just some girl I met LITERALLY, eight days ago.

We all just sat there for a while, until she started to squirm a little. She started to scream an cry out, without opening her mouth. I rushed over to her, taking her hand. She opened her mouth and screamed, loud.

I shook her shoulder. "Alex! Alex, it's just a bad dream! Alex, wake up!" Her eyes shot open and I pulled her into a hug. "It's alright, Love. You're alright." She cried into my shoulder, staining my shirt, by I honestly didn't mind.

I laid her down once her tears had subsided, and started to pull my arm out from under her head, but she just pulled me down so that I was laying next to her. She curled up next to me, her head on my shoulder and hand on my chest. I put my hand over hers and wrapped my arm, the one she was laying on, around her. She fell asleep like that.

It wasn't long before she started to scream. I tried shaking her awake, but to no avail. I sat up. "Alex!? Alex, wake up,Love! Alex!!"

A nurse ran in at that precise moment and injected something into her arm, resulting in her calming down, almost immediately. I laid back down and put my arm around her. Her hand subconsciously went up to my chest as she snuggled up to me.

*****

A few hours went by before she woke up again. She groaned and opened her eyes. I smiled down at her, and she bolted upright, sitting on the edge of her bed. I sat up too.